In Loving Memory

This morning, at daybreak, my beloved friend and companion of 16 years died in my arms.

Hacker was adopted by my other cat Tommy when he was a kitten. They bonded immediately. I could not help but make him a part of my family.

Hacker got his name from having this uncanny ability to launch programs from my computer by walking across the keyboard. He loved eating tortilla chips, chicken, and grass, sunning himself outside, and "singing" to the birds. He was a lover, not a hunter.

When he got older, every time I would take my viola out of my case to practice, he would climb in the case and stay there for hours listening and "humming" along. During trio practice, he would often sit in the middle of us listening. In my recording of the Clarke Sonata posted on this site, you can hear him humming along.

He will be cremated and I will be getting his ashes back in the next week or so. There is this little compartment in my viola case under the base of the neck that I have never used. I will be placing some of his ashes in there, close to the place where he loved to nap while I practiced.

All day I've agonized on how to honor him. A regular memorial just didn't seem to do justice to such a long time companion. But when I began playing the Clarke Sonata today, my heart almost burst on the last page of the first movement. That is when I knew how to best memorialize Hacker.

Now on the front of my sheet music of the Sonata, above what Rebbecca Clarke wrote, I added: "In Loving Memory of Hacker. Friend, Companion. 1992-2008"

One supprisingly beautiful thing has happened though. Hacker was diabetic and I still have many of his supplies. Some of my friends and colleagues also lost pets recently.

We are collecting all of these unused kitty medical supplies and donating them to the Kitty Hill Resort in Santa Cruz. A place where Hacker and his brother Tommy spent alot of time at when I traveled on business. I e-mailed the owner and she said she would love to have those supplies. She has some kitty residents who could put them to good use. What she does not need, she will donate to a local rescue group she works closely with.